Rural Schools

Key issues:

• Somerset has one of the highest ratios of rural to urban schools of any local authority area in England.
• In 2013/14, a total of 16 schools in Somerset received additional 'sparsity' funding to support their viability.
• Overall levels of attainment for pupils living in rural and urban areas are broadly the same at Foundation Stage. However, rural students increasingly outperform their urban counterparts through the school system.
• Overall rates of Special Educational Needs (SEN) are lower for pupils living in rural areas.
• Rates of eligibility for Free School Meals (FSM) are lower for rural areas.

The Department for Education (DfE) classifies the majority of schools in Somerset as rural (70% of state-funded primary schools and 54% of state-funded secondary schools are rural schools). This places Somerset in the top ten local authorities in England in terms of the proportion of its schools classified as rural for both primary and secondary schools.

In terms of the ONS Rural-Urban Classification, the numbers of schools in Somerset is set out in Table 1, below. Primary schools in rural villages account for more than 4 out of 10 schools.

Table 1: Numbers of schools in Somerset by Rural-Urban Classification (as of April 2014)

Source: Somerset County Council

Sparsity Funding

The cost per pupil of operating small schools is generally greater than for larger schools, which benefit from economies of scale. The historic nature of educational provision in Somerset means that small schools require more funding per pupil to be viable. In 2014/15, a total of 16 schools in Somerset received additional 'sparsity' funding (five Primary, five Middle and six Secondary schools).

Map 1: Locations of schools eligible for sparsity funding, 2013/14  (click map to enlarge)

Source: Somerset County Council

Changes brought about by the DfE for 2015/16 will reduce the number of eligible schools; only 3 First schools, 2 Middle schools and 3 secondary schools will be eligible.

Attainment

Overall levels of attainment for pupils living in rural and urban areas are broadly the same at Foundation Stage, however, students in more rural areas increasingly outperform their urban counterparts through the school system, with rural students performing much better on average by GCSE.

Table 2: Pupil Attainment by Rural-Urban Classification of home address, 2013

Source: Somerset County Council

Pupils with Special Educational Needs

Rates of Special Education Need (SEN) in Somerset are lower for pupils living in rural areas, and lowest in the more remote areas of the county.

Table 3: Rates of SEN by Rural-Urban Classification, Somerset, 2013

Source: Somerset County Council

Pupils eligible for Free School Meals

Eligibility for Free School Meals (FSM) in the more remote areas of Somerset is around half the rate seen in urban areas. See Table 4, below.

Table 4: Rates of FSM by Rural-Urban Classifications, Somerset, 2013

Source: Somerset County Council